


Rules of the Streets

by Llama1412



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-26
Updated: 2013-03-26
Packaged: 2017-12-06 12:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/735929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows you used to be able to get away with murder in Gotham.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rules of the Streets

Everyone knows that you could get away with murder in Gotham. Hell, everyone knows that you could get away with even a high profile murder in Gotham. The crooks and the killers ruled the city and if you didn’t like it, you damn well didn’t say it, or you’d end up with a bullet between the eyes. The judges were on the payroll, the cops were working for the gangs, and if you wanted to get noticed, you’d kill someone big, make a show of it, and you might get a small time drug running gig to feed your family.

Everyone knows that’s the way things used to work.

Thing is, since the Bat, things’ve changed. Cops shoot at the criminals now and judges put them behind bars. If you want a good gig to feed your family, you’d better be prepared to throw in with Two Face or Black Mask or Penguin, because even when they were in Arkham, they ran the underworld. A few other faces had stepped up here and there, but then there’d be an escape and anyone who infringed on the big guys’ territory washed up in Gotham bay a few weeks later.

You can’t get away with murder anymore. You can try your damnedest, but your best luck lies in escaping prison after a conviction, and hoping that bigger fish got out when you did, so the Bat’d go after them. But that’s the thing. You hear in other cities that the morons in spandex, they only go after the metas or the weird criminals with calling cards. They leave the ‘normal’ criminals to the cops.

That’s not how Gotham works. Oh sure, the police are considered more or less capable nowadays. But if the police need help or if it looks like the prosecution isn’t gonna be able to make your case, the Bat’ll come after you. If you’re lucky, maybe he’ll only send one of his sidekicks or whatever, but here in Gotham, it’s not just the crazy guys that have to fear the Bat.

They’ve got this thing, see, where the Bat is considered a part of the criminal justice system. He won’t appear as a witness in court or anything, ‘cause if you appealed that to the higher courts, they’d be all over that shit. But he’s considered part of the chain of command. Any evidence he finds is considered admissible in court. And if that ain’t crazy enough, he doesn’t just work for the prosecution anymore.

The Bat’s thing is supposed to be scaring the shit out of criminals, right? But I dunno, I guess he’s expanded now. They have this program, you hear about it in all the holding cells. If you think you’ve been wrongfully accused and your defense attorney is shit, there’s this deal where you call – well, they call it the Oracle hotline. Word on the street is that it works. This Oracle, I dunno, somehow they’ve got connections to all the Batguys out there. I don’t even know how many there are anymore, but if you call that hotline, Oracle will send one of them to investigate your case. The problem being, if you’re really guilty, they’re almost certain to find the evidence proving it, and the prosecution will ask for a harsher sentence. It kinda sucks, but I’ve known a couple of guys who – well, they weren’t what anyone would call innocent, but they didn’t do what they’d been accused of, and this Oracle hotline thing got them out. Pretty amazing, for a Bat-related thing.

But the point is, you used to be able to get away with murder in Gotham. But the Bat changed things, changed the very foundation of Gotham. Now, there are so many Bats, you’re probably gonna get caught purse-snatching and there goes your probation, you’re back in the slammer. It kinda sucks – the old ways, they weren’t great, but at least you knew how it worked, right? You knew what would get you some dough and what would get you killed. Now, you gotta deal with all these crazy vigilantes and do-gooders and cops and judges and shit that actually do their jobs and it’s just kinda weird, right, after so much history. But I gotta admit… I like knowing that when I send my kid out there, the Bats are gonna do their damnedest to make sure nothing happens to him. Guys like me, we don’t get that. So these Bats… they’ve changed things. But I guess it’s kinda for the better.


End file.
